**INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY**
The Department of Language and Linguistics is seeking to appoint Assistant Lecturers to support our Applied Quantitative Methods Pathway in Linguistics, on a range of first/second year modules, including:
LG215 - Psycholinguistics
SC208 - Quantitative Research on Social Stratification: Inequalities from Cradle to Grave
GV207 - Quantitative Political Analysis
Information regarding the content of each of these modules is available from the online Module Directory: www.essex.ac.uk/modules
Purpose of the role
Assistant Lecturers support academic staff at the University by performing teaching or teaching related duties in line with business need and affordability. This post also provides a development opportunity for postgraduate students to develop their teaching skills in preparation for more senior teaching posts in future and to achieve professional recognition.
Your role is attached to the Applied Quantitative Methods Pathway in Linguistics. This pathway puts an emphasis on quantitative data analysis and your role will be to support students in their second and third year. For second year students, you will be responsible for devising some support classes tying together their Data analysis module (SC208 or GV207) with their Psycholinguistic module (LG215). You will be guiding students with analysis of psycholinguistics data, demonstrate the elaboration of experimental paradigms, and how to run studies.
With students in their final year, you will be their Data oriented mentor, helping them reflect on experimental methods and choices and supporting them as they are analysing the quantitative data from their final year project.
Experience with quantitative data analysis and (psycholinguistic) experimental methods is required. You will not have any marking or invigilation duties.
Assistant Lecturers will receive close supervision and direction from the module supervisor, including regular feedback, pastoral support, and guidance. The module supervisor will give full background on the module and clear direction on the content to be taught and the preparation necessary and will undertake assessment of teaching.
Main Duties
The main duties of the post will be:
Essential Requirements
Applicants for posts as an Assistant Lecturer must be registered for a postgraduate degree at the University of Essex during all or part of the academic year 2022-23.
Knowledge/Qualifications - Essential:
Knowledge/Qualifications – Desirable:
Skills – Essential:
Experience – Desirable:
Assistant Lecturers who have previously taught within the Department, should hold CADENZA accreditation in order to be considered.
General information about the Department
The Department of Language and Linguistics (DLL) has 37 full-time academic members of staff and provides a broad spectrum of expertise in the study of language and in the practical teaching of modern foreign languages. Its core ambition is to offer students a transformative educational experience in these areas underpinned by high quality research. The majority of research conducted in the department is rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, placing us 1st in the UK for research impact and 3rd in the UK for research quality overall (REF 2021). Our linguistics expertise covers Theoretical and Descriptive linguistics, Applied linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, TEFL and Translation, Interpreting and Subtitling. We offer a wide range of languages including French, German, Spanish and Italian that can be taken at degree level from beginners to advanced levels following the Common European Languages Framework. Portuguese can be studied from a pre-A level standard.
We aim to offer our undergraduate students a firm foundation in all the different areas of linguistics offered in the department and to prepare then adequately for their independent student projects in final year. We thus aim to develop critical thinking, data analysis, lateral thinking and independent thinking skills at the very beginning of students’ study. We strive to give each student a personal and individual experience in order to boost student engagement and 1st/2nd year tutorials are a crucial aspect of this, apart from also offering a personal mentor and tutor system. Student satisfaction is central to our purpose, and we aim to offer a wide range of assessment methods that engage students and help them achieve their full potential while also enhancing their employability skills.
Contractual Arrangements
A total of 160 hours over the duration of a post will be distributed between one or two postholders.
The appointment will be made at the University rates for Assistant Lecturers, depending on hours agreed, at Grade 7 SP 27 (currently £16.73 per hour) or at Grade 7 SP 28 (currently £17.23 per hour) for those who hold CADENZA.
The posts will be offered as fixed-term employment contracts until the post holder completes or withdraws from postgraduate studies or enters further completion or an extension to completion period.
Although an overarching contract will be in place for the duration of postgraduate studies, ALs will need to apply for individual posts and will have no entitlement to future engagements beyond their initial post. The reason the contract is fixed-term is that these posts provide an opportunity for postgraduate research students to develop interpersonal, communication and practical skills.
Support, Mentoring and Monitoring
Assistant Lecturers must engage in professional development activity related to teaching, learning and assessment responsibilities. All ALs are expected to achieve Associate Fellowship of the HEA (CADENZA) at the first possible opportunity and by the end of their first year of teaching (or they will not normally be able to continue teaching as an AL). ALs will be paid for all mandatory training. The following training should be undertaken:
In addition, there will be the following Departmental induction and training.
Assistant Lecturers are also expected to play a wider citizenship role in the Department. This will include activities including where appropriate involvement in module development and review and being represented at Departmental meetings and events.
Please visit https://www.essex.ac.uk/staff/professional-development-and-training/cadenza for further information regarding CADENZA accreditation.
How to Apply
Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Claire Delle Luche, Q-Step Co-ordinator (email c.delleluche@essex.ac.uk).
The application and associated documentation should be submitted electronically to the Department Manager, Samantha Durling, by 5pm on Friday 15th July 2022 (langdm@essex.ac.uk)
Applications should be made in writing, enclosing:
Interviews will be held approximately two weeks after the closing date or as soon as possible thereafter.